Kinston High School boys basketball coach Perry Tyndall has spent all but four years of his life in this town. Those four years away from Lenoir County were spent in a little town in Orange County — Chapel Hill — where he won his first state championship as a head coach on Saturday.

This wasn’t Tyndall’s first title as a coach — he won three as an assistant to Wells Gulledge in 2008, 2010 and 2012 — but you could tell what it meant to him.

His first comments to a packed media room in the bowels of the Dean E. Smith Center were to thank God, and then his family. It didn’t take him long, though, to share what the dual championships of his team and Kinston girls basketball coach Hubert Quinerly’s team means to the city of Kinston.

The city was well represented in the Dean Dome, as the baby blue seats were filled with thousands of cheering green-clad Vikings fans.

“When you think about Kinston basketball and the tradition and history of Kinston basketball, there’s no better place to be,” Tyndall said. “To be able to come home and bring two (titles) back to our community, and to see our community huddle around all of us, it’s been pretty special.”

He paused for a moment and continued.

“You saw out there what Kinston basketball means to our community,” Tyndall said, pointing out the door of the media room. “What a special place. I love that town.”

It’s amazing how it always seems there are key seniors on every rendition of these Vikings; this year, the seniors were led by Josh Dawson, who became the first player in city history to win three hoops titles. He was joined by the powerful Denzel Keyes, VeQuain Joyner, Jeremy Taylor and four other seniors who closed their careers with a title.

Saturday marked the 19th time a Kinston or Grainger boys basketball team had advanced to an NCHSAA basketball championship game (for records purposes, the association doesn’t recognize Adkin’s runs since it was in a different association). With one of the nation’s top players in the Class of 2015 on the team in Brandon Ingram, along with a talented bunch of underclassmen returning (including Andrew Lopez, Darnell Dunn, Qwarri Ham, Tiquan Canady and others), there’s no reason to think the Vikings won’t have a chance to defend their title next year.

Saturday’s event marked the first time a Kinston or Grainger girls squad had made it to a championship game, though.

It likely won’t be the last. Saturday’s MVP — Lydia Rivers — is a sophomore while the championship game’s most outstanding player was a freshman (Jada Faison) who didn’t join the team until after the junior varsity season was complete. The irony is that the team’s best player, Brittany Drumgoole, is only a junior, so there’s no doubt the Vikings girls will be a preseason 2A championship favorite when the 2013-14 season rolls around.

Like the boys, though, the girls were paced by a four-year varsity star in Monique Lofton, along with her backcourt mate in Alexis Williams. The duo provided incredible leadership on a relatively young roster.

Saturday marked the first time since 1982 a school in the 2A ranks swept basketball titles. Don’t be surprised if we’re having this exact same discussion a year from now.

Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at Bryan.Hanks@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at BCHanks